World War II came to a swift end after the first two atomic bombs were
dropped on Japan. The first was dropped on August 6, 1945, on the city of
Hiroshima. The second was dropped on Nagasaki, on August 9, 1945. Thousands
of people lost their lives in the initial blast, and many more died from burns
and the radiation following the explosion. Once peace talks began, Japan proposed
a negotiated peace, but after three years of war with Japan, the United States
would only accept a complete surrender. The formal surrender of Japan took
place on September 2, 1945, on the U.S.S. Missouri. - Kyle Deglow '11

In a letter recently received by Prof. Ned Guthrie from Lt. (j.g.) Howard W.
Hillis, a former Hanover student of '37, there is a striking account of the
destruction of Nagasaki as a result of the atomic bomb.

Lt. Hillis is now situated at Sasebo, a part of the Kyushu Islands, and not
far distant from the ill-fated city of Nagasaki. The young navel officer writes
that the newspaper accounts of the damage caused by the atomic bomb were not
exaggerated in the least. "A whole strip, or rather a circle of the city
as wide as the distance from the Hanover post office to the site where Classic
Hall once stood, has been leveled"-this includes everything, all architectural
structures and all forms of vegetation. Even outside this large area, the damage
was great. The industrial section of Nagasaki was so badly damaged that nothing
remains in a condition suitable for operation.

"Nagasaki was built in a valley which is surrounded by medium sized mountains.
Some of the buildings had been located on the sides of the valley at quite a
higher level than the city proper. Debris from the bombed portion of the city
was hurled high up into this elevated part. There was no bomb crater and the
actual point at which the bomb hit can only be surmised or calculated by figuring
out the center of the devastated area."

Lt. Hillis also states that the climate in Japan is quite nice-just cool enough
to be comfortable. It seldom rains and the sun is usually shining. "It
is the kind of weather California advertises, but seldom has."

Strangely enough, the Japanese do not seem to resent the military personnel
and police force which have been set over them. "Quite a few of the Japanese
people speak English and these are only too willing to associate with the Americans."

There is one Japanese characteristic which is quite prominent. Although their
standard of living is low and their country's natural resources are at a minimum,
still the people are very industrious. They have terraced every hill that is
not absolutely perpendicular. Lt. Hillis says that they would have crops growing
on the many hills surrounding the Hanover campus if they were located in this
area.